Hospitalized Patients with a Therapeutic Profile: The Relationship Between the Type of Attitude Towards Illness and the Quality of Life

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of attitudes towards illness, quality of life and their relationship in hospitalized patients. An empirical study of three groups of hospitalized patients aged 40 to 80 years was carried out: with ischemic heart disease (group I, n = 22; 55,3(13,8) years), with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (group II, n=22; 53,7(12,0) years) and with osteochondrosis (group III, n=22; 59,6(14,8) years). Distribution by sex in all groups – 50% of men and 50% of women. To determine the type of attitude towards the disease, the Bekhterev Institute's questionnaire "Type of attitude towards the disease" (TOBOL) was used, the quality of life – the questionnaire of the Assessment of the quality of life (SF-36). The results of the study showed that in patients of all groups maladaptive types of attitudes towards the disease prevailed: Group I – hypochondriacal; apathetic; Group II – neurasthenic, dysphoric, paranoid; Group III – anxious, apathetic types. The quality of life of patients of all groups did not differ from each other: the physical component of health was assessed as low; the psychological component of health was average. A high rate of pain syndrome and social functioning was found in patients in group I, and in general health in patients in group II. Factor analysis revealed the relationship between the general state of health of patients (the patient's subjective assessment of his health) and the type of attitude towards the disease. Most of the patients needed psychological help to correct the type of attitude towards the disease and improve the quality of life. The revealed relationship between the internal picture of the disease and the quality of life requires additional research.

Keywords

• hospitalized patients
• type of internal picture of the disease
• quality of life